In the present distributed digital communication systems, service providers may find it difficult to collect a fee for services performed. It may be desirable for users to have an instrument for paying for various services or products available in the net.
At present, it is not possible for service/product providers to get paid for service where the provider does not take part in every transaction.
Prior art systems and methods may not be suitable to answer this need.
Thus, a service provide may possibly devise a software package with an integral module which accounts for the use of the software, so that the service provider may charge the user accordingly. Thus, for example, a provider of a registered E-mail service may be paid for services provided.
A weak point in such a software is that it is too easy to neutralize the accounting module, to render it inoperable, so that the user may use the software for free.
And, if one user does not have the required technical skills for that, he/she may be sure that a hacker somewhere across the globe already did it, and that a “cracked/broken” version of the software is available on the Internet. Thus, a hacker or unauthorized person may spread worldwide a software package to attack the legitimate software. This may result in a large scale misuse of the software, while avoiding the required payment.
At present, it is impossible to detect such an attack on one's software or to prevent it. It is impossible to detect illegitimate use of the software, that is use of “cracked” software which denies the software owner their legitimate profits.
In the present business climate, with users of the software spread across the globe, it is very difficult or impossible to enforce a policy or to survey transactions performed.
Another approach to the fee collecting problem may be to channel all transactions through the service provider's facility. The service provider then has control on any and all transactions being performed, and can enforce a payment policy as desired.
This would require a tremendous investment by the service provider, to set up huge service centers worldwide, capable of concurrently serving many users. Thus, this approach may not be practical. It is therefore not desirable that the service provider take part in any and all transactions between users.
Still another payment method may include the user using his/her credit card to pay in real time for any transaction.
The disadvantage of this method is that the credit card number may be compromised, since the Internet and similar links are not secure. If an unauthorized person intercepts the credit card information, this may be used in fraudulent transactions. The card owner may find it difficult to prove a specific transaction was not authorized, or even to detect some of the unauthorized charges.
At present, a person paying with his/her credit card over the Internet may be exposed to large losses. Thus, payment over a distributed net is difficult.
Still more difficult is collecting fees for transactions between two parties, where the service provider is a third party and is not a party to the actual transactions.
For example, a provider of walkie-talkie devices or wireless sets cannot collect a fee from each call, since the communication is direct between users, without the manufacturer's mediation.
Another example is the use of a software for premium services relating to E-mail. It may be advantageous both to manufacturer and user to charge per use, not a global fee for the software. But how to account for use of the software? The manufacturer may even not be aware of the existence of the user, who may have obtained the software from a third party.
Still another problem with prior art systems is the use of “digital cash”. Prior art systems involve the issuance of “digital cash” which include a credit for a fixed amount of money, signed by the “cash” issuer.
A possible problem is that these documents can be copied, so each can be used in multiple transactions. To prevent that, the issuer maintains a center which approves in real time each “cash” to be used. This is an immense task, to participate in every business transaction worldwide, more so when one considers the small amounts involved.
At present, there apparently are no methods which may enable a third party to collect a fee from transactions between two parties over a distributed network, where the third party takes no part in the actual transactions between the two parties.
U.S. Pat. No. 122,263 has been filed in Israel on this invention by the present inventor. Application PCT/IL98/00563 has been subsequently filed with PCT.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide for a system and method of payment using tokens, with means for overcoming the abovedetailed deficiencies.